This invention relates to a pulley apparatus adapted to reverse the direction of a first plurality of cables and combine them with a second plurality of cables to provide a combined oriented plurality of coplanar, parallel and codirectional cables. The apparatus is specially adapted for use in a system for raising a flexible curtain.
Large foldable ceiling-hung curtains fabricated of flexible textile or film materials or of a multitude of rigid panels find use in various applications. They may be employed for the purpose of controllably obscuring objects or areas, such as when used as stage curtains or curtains for concealment of projector screens, or curtains to exclude light. Such curtains may also be employed for acoustic insulation, fire protection, air flow restraint, and space dividers as when used to divide large areas such as gymnasiums, meeting halls or restaurants into smaller separated areas. Said curtains are generally hung from ceilings or ceiling support beams, and generally extend to the floor in their fully deployed condition.
One manner of storage and deployment of such curtains has involved overhead suspensions or tracks which permit the curtain to be drawn in the horizontal direction so that the gathered curtain, containing vertical folds, can be stored against a wall of the room. Such manner of storage, however, occupies a certain amount of floor space, and could interfere with activities requiring the use of said space or adjoining areas.
Another mode of deployment and storage of ceiling-hung curtains involves a lifting system wherein the curtain is gathered in horizontal folds and drawn to the ceiling. Such ceiling storage does not occupy floor space or interfere with the usual activities in a room or gymnasium area. Although the ceiling system of curtain storage has its advantages, installation is more difficult than in the case of horizontally drawn, wall-stored curtains.
A ceiling-stored curtain system requires means for holding the top of the curtain near the ceiling, means such as cables attached to the bottom of the curtain for lifting, guide means such as grommets associated with the curtain to insure proper folding of same, and a lifting mechanism such as a winch-operated drum which is preferably motor driven. Because of the generally large size of ceiling-hung curtains, a multitude of lifting cables, suitably spaced along the curtain is usually required. This necessitates the use of considerable amounts of cable, thereby increasing the cost of such installations. Another problem encountered is that of entanglement of the many cables, particularly en route to and on the winch-operated drum.
It is an object of the present invention to provide apparatus for simplifying the installation and operation of a vertically lifting curtain. It is another object to provide a specialized pulley apparatus useful in achieving several functions in the installation and operation of a vertically lifting curtain. It is a still further object of this invention to minimize the amount of cable required and the entanglement of same in a vertically lifting, ceiling-hung curtain system. Other objects and advantages will become apparent hereinafter.